Police Seize Drugs Worth $1.7 Billion

By The Associated Press

Aug. 23, 2013

A three-nation investigation led to one of the biggest seizures of synthetic drugs in Europe, a haul of products to create Ecstasy pills with a street value of $1.7 billion, the Belgian prosecutor’s office said Friday. After 30 raids in Belgium, the Netherlands and Poland, 11 people were arrested and charged with possession, production and trading in drugs as part of a criminal gang, it said. The products seized included 2,200 pounds of MDMA, which is processed into Ecstasy pills, and 18.5 tons of safrole, a precursor of MDMA, the prosecutor’s office said.

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